Plateorm rocker



Dec 24.1957 E. MuKNAsuscH Erm. 2,817,388

' PLATFORM ROCKER I 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed March 1, 1955 ETAL Dec. 24, 1957 E. M. KNABuscl-l PLATFORM ROCKER 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 r N a 1% if. Z Wm M n m Q, f@ ww E k Lm Ens.. @N

E. M. KNABUSCH ETAL V Dec. 24, 1957 PLATFORM ROCKER 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 Filed March l, 1955 fait United @trates PLATFQRM RCKER EdwardflM Knabuseh andiEdwin J. Slitoemaker,` Monroe, Mich., assignors to La-Z-Boy Chair Company, Monroe, Mich-.tta corporation of Michigan l AppiicationMarch 1, 1955, SerialNo. 491,278 t 10= Claimsw (Cl.` 155-72) This inventiontrelates` `tochairs and morewparticularlyi 15 totrhaifsiof` thetrockablettype.

Theifprovision of a pfootstool'or hassoclciauxiliary` to va i rockingchair can`,substantially increasethe comfortofs a sittentwho; desires to` lean ,baclc to. a relatively imrnobile; recliningtposition. However, theheight of'footstools 20 issnormally xedfand therebyyserves'eiectively to estab-A lish/Uthedegree'of thefsitters reclination, apart from the in dividualfs` preferences. t Further, the maintenance of a i reclining positionby pressing downwardlytonfa footstoolA t withxthessitters lesioutstretched is notfully conducive toLrelaxation.i` On theother hand, it is 4somewhat dlfiicult for a persontoestablish a rockingmotion withhis legs exilldedwand, his tkneesrnnrellexedf so that preparatory togwroeking ythe,"sitte1jwill normally .ndit desirablegito t mpvethe footstool aside.` y

These dilicultiesvmay befalleviated by the practice-11 of. thegprinciples ofthe present invention? in general, a foot-v t sto ol is frmed `as ,ian element of itherocking chair.and moyes tltherewith., The-footrest is supported `by `a modiit fied 4fisonapound t parallelogrammatic. `mechanism Adesigned t to produce thetrequisite` combinationalxmotion in trans-ij lati mand rotationgto,shiftr the4` position. andwatt-itude` tof thejfootrest ,from i a retracted positiQn, abutting the i `front ofthe, chair,andput4 of thetway.: of the sitters legs, to an;` ,extended` position in which hither upperV surface `thereof;-` L is :spaced fromithevseat `and disposed ,in` parallelism within* orat a` preselected angleomthe planeioftheuppenseat suriace, Means are also provided, i cooperatiitelyasso-t4 ciated with theaoresaidtieouestSupport mechanismifor seletively lo cliing the `chair i against rockingl `motionfin. any preselected position within the rangeofpossible `mol-J;` tionnof,thenchairm As a result,` the-user may employ thevchairitas-a Vrockermwith the ootrest retracted,mhe i may extendithewfootrest anidgrecline 4vin the `chair tota t position establishedV by hisand the chairs Weight Vdistribuf- .50 tion,4 Nor he i may :tilt `the chair .t to any position of `reclina-i. t tion which he finds most comfortable and lock `the chair"y in uthatn :piositiong L with` ,the footrest either ,extended or retracted.`

Theobjectpf` ihisLinyention isto improve ithe com? fortabl'eness sof rocking chairs.

A feature of; thisv invention is an improved--selectivelyt` extensible 'tand retractable footrest. i

Another'feature of this invention is an improved meel,w anism for selectivelyh loclting La rocking ,chairin any sei-.i lected position.

A further feature of thisinvention is an improvedlunitary;Y operatingand` control mechanism for positioning,` both a rockinglchair and afootrest therefor.

Themanneri of accomplishment of the foregoingjob' 65 ject, thenature `of the foregoing fea-tures, and other ob` jectsand--features of theinventionpmaybe understood from the following detailed description of an embodimenm of the invention when'V read with reference to;` theraccornt-, panyingdrawings inwhich: i

Figure 1 is a sidezelevational view of `a fully assembled i and upholstered .ohairt4 embodying lthe],principlezssA ofthep; invention; t

F ig.` 2 is la i fragmentary horizontal @sectionall view-take11-,;t below the upper. level Vofthe seat ,butwith the seat-tandupholsteryl removed;

Fig. 3 is averticaltsectional vievvttakenst lbstantiallya` along ther-line 3-3 of Fig. 2;

Fig. A is a view similarto lthat, of Fig. 3l except .that then; footrest has been movedtto itstextended position; p

Fig. 5 is a verticali/sectionalYview taken substantially along thetline S-SofFignZ;

Fig. 6 is a `sectional yviewiaken substantially along then. linefof `Fig. 5; and,

Fig7 is a sectionalvviewtaken substantially along the A line7-7 of Fig. 5.-

The chairconstituting the disclosed embodiment of the@ invention comprisesfa back portionn10 (Fig. `l) integraliE withia. seat portion [12.` oneitherside. of which ftheretis axed an arcuateirociker 151 (Fig. 3) rockable upon sur-t faces of a baseportionl.:` The r0ckers`14 andthe basen Ji6iare-iinterassociated byta double-compression springer@ mechanism. 18y inthe. normal platform-rockergmanner,

The two parallel side rails 20, constituentelements` oft the i seat portionilZ, are interjoined at their rear Abytla rail (notgshown), t and L are interjoinedl at, their:` forwardmositm ends. by a front rail "22. afiixed thereto throughia Pair-io :t brackets 24.. The `sideirails 2li .are furtherinterjoinedg-ll byta generally U-shjaped channel-sectionimember 26,(.Eigs 2 and)` the legsoffwhich `abut theinneru facesofth side rails 2t) andi are alxed thereto bybolts 28 or .similari i; attaching means. t

An` actuating shaft 3i) extends transverselygpf;Lthe,:hai1:l and `is `-roughly centered on the. sideraiis20,.,alth0ughg the precisef location thereof may Ibewvariel.4 Elongatedtf actuating `shaft 30, whichis representa tivelyxshpwnnas.1t being of square cross-section, is rotativelyfsmounted in ia pairsofiianged `bushingsl32` `and l34zwhich are Anonroitatively aiiixed :in apertures in. thesde ;rails,20. Oneienrdm, ofactuating shaft 30 extendstbeyond the :apertureimonets oftheisidetrails 20 and -anfactuatinglever `36 is -mountec1 thereon, a collartpreferably beinginterposedbetweeni the` actuatinglevert and the-outsidesurface of rthebsitlis rail20.` i t A pair of arms 40 is mounted near opposite endsofg," theaactuating shaft `but `inboard of `the ,side rai1s20. To establish Aa nonrotative1 relationship between thelactuatt inghshaft 30 andthe arms 40eaeh `,arm,40is provided with anopper ,U-*Shaped bracketporton 42..having a pa of. patalletiaces eachttprovidedlwith,entspannte con formed to andvengaging ,"thelactuating shaft `30.` Eat;V bracket Ari-2` t pteerablyfabuts `,the` correspondan flange bushing `32` and.K mevr bothmay bei'etaineddu sucht` abut ment by meansiofta pin.`44 extending through ant aper- ,Y ture inwthevactuating shaft 30, asmay bestbestseeninnA5 Figs. 2 and qof vthe drawings,"

the actuating ieverpo is rotatable from thepositionm representedpin Fig3 of the `drawings `to the positi rt ,y represented in Fig.` 4 of ,the drawingstto"correspondingly rotate the actuating" shaft 30;; Thisrotation Yoperatesv a linkage mechanism to translate and rotate ,the fomcitrestujw 48 from a retracted position, in which it lies adjacent1 tok the `frontend `of the seat `portion `12 withvits face surtace extending "substantially, perpendicularly rtn thej generali,

3 plane of the upper surface of the seat portion 12 (Fig. 3), to an extended position in which it is substantially spaced from the front edge of the seat portion 12, with its face surface disposed at a reduced angle to the general plane of the upper surface of the seat portion 12 (Fig. 4).

The linkage mechanism is a compound parallelogrammatic mechanism adapted to produce the desirable translational motion, modified so as to produce the desirable rotational motion. The mechanism is pivotally mounted with respect to the seat portion 12 at two points, and is pivotally mounted to the footrest 48 at two points. The first pivotal connection between the linkage mechanism and the seat portion 12 is that previously described: the arms 40 are pivotally related to the side rails 20 by means of the actuating shaft 30. The second pivotal relationship between the linkage mechanism and the seat portion 12 is that existing between a pair of arms 50 and the side rails 20. Each of the arms 50 is formed similarly to the corresponding arm 40 in that it is provided with a re-entrant flange 52 to define a pair of spacedapart portions apertured to engage a cross shaft S4. A pair of pins 56 may be inserted through the cross shaft 54 (Fig. 2) in abutment with faces of the anges 52, so as to prevent motion of the cross shaft 54 along its longitudinal axis relative to the seat portion 12, but these pins 56 should not inhibit relative rotational motion between the cross shaft 54 and the arms 50 nor should the engagement be so tight as to impede rotation of the cross shaft S4 relative to the seat portion 12.

Cross shaft 54 extends transversely of the chair and passes through apertures in upstanding lugs on the brackets 24. A locking handle 58 is pinned to one end of the cross shaft and is rotatable through a selected angle to correspondingly rotate the cross shaft 54, for a purpose hereinafter to be described.

At each side of the chair, a link 62 is pivotally associated with the arm 40 by means of a pin 64 and is pivotally associated with arm 50 by means of a pivot pin 66. Obviously, for true parallelogrammatic operation, the length of arms 40 between pivotal axes 64 and 30 should equal the length of the arms 50 between pivotal axes 54 and 66, andthe length of links 62 between pivotal axes 64 and 66 should equal the distance between the actuating shaft 30 and the cross shaft 54. While such an arrangement may be employed, in the disclosed embodiment of the invention the linkage departs from true parallelogrammatic action to produce a desired motion of the footrest 48.

Each of the arms 50 is further connected to the rear portion of a link 68 by means of a pivot pin 70. The forwardmost end of each of the links 62 is connected to a link 72 by means of a pivot pin 74, and links 68 and 72 are interconnected by a pivot pin 76. Again, these elements 62, 68, 50 and 72 may, but in the disclosed embodiment do not exactly, constitute a parallelogrammatic linkage.

AThe lowermost end of each of the links 72 is pivotally connected to a short link 80 by means of a pivot pin 82. The forwardmost ends of each pair of the links 68 and 80 extend forwardly through slots in a bottom plate 86 which forms the base of the footrest 48. A pair of mounting brackets 90 are affixed to the bottom plate 86 and each is provided with a forwardly extending (Fig. 3) ange to which the links 68 and 80 are pivotally connected by means of pivot pins 92 and 94. Again, the distance between pins 76 and 92 is or may be substantially equal to the distance between pins 82 and 94, and the distance between pins 76 and 82 is or may be substantially equal to that between pins 92 and 94.

Each of the links 62 is provided with a rearwardly extending arm portion 98 having a further rearwardly extending lip 100. Each lip 100 is spaced from the pivot pin 64 by a distance substantially equal to the distance between that pivot pin and actuating shaft 30 (Fig. 3). When actuating lever 36 is rotated from the position shown in Fig. 3 to the position shown in Fig. 4, links 62 are so moved that lips engage a face of actuating shaft 30, thereby serving as a limit stop and effectively locking the footrest 48 in its extended position. Thus, as may best be seen in Fig. 4, to move the footrest 48 to its retracted position, pivot pin 64 must be rotated about the longitudinal axis of actuating shaft 30; yet, since the center lines of links 6?. and arms 40 are substantially parallel with one another when the footrest 48 is extended, the weight of the sitters legs will produce no forces tending to produce that rotational motion of pivot pin 64.

It will be noted that actuating shaft 30 is properly oriented with respect to pins 64 so that the faces of lips 100 will properly engage a face of that shaft when the footrest is extended.

The cross shaft 54 also serves an element of the locking mechanism for selectively preventing rocking motion of the chair, the details of this mechanism being shown in Figs. 2 and 5 to 7. A support member 102 is located centrally of the chair, in a lateral sense (Fig. 2), and extends between the bottom of the channel member 26 and the front rail 22 (Fig. 5), being screwed, doweled or otherwise affixed to each. A plate 104, provided with a pair of parallel flanges 106, is affixed to support member 102. A bracket 108 is pivotally mounted with respect to the support member 102 by a pivot pin 110 engaging aligned apertures in the bracket 108 and the flanges 106. Bracket 108 includes a pair of spaced apart, coaxial, tubular arms 112 (Figs. 5, 6 and 7). A sleeve 114 is slidably mounted upon and end caps 115 are a'ixed to the arms 112 (Fig. 7). Centrally disposed within the bracket arms 112, the sleeve 114, and the end caps 115 is a rod 116 which is pivotally affixed to a cross piece 118, a constituent element of the base 16, by means of brackets and a pivot pin 122 (Fig. 5).

A series of washers 124 are positioned on the rod 116, within the sleeve 114, and are disposed in a notch or space 125 which separates the bracket arms 112. When the faces of these washers 124 are normal to the longitudinal axis of rod 116,l the rod 116 may freely slide relative thereto, permitting rocking motion of the chair, the rod 116 pivoting through a small arc about pivot 122 and the bracket 108 and sleeve 114 pivoting through a small arc about pivot 110 as the chair rocks.

When, however, the faces of washers 124 are tilted relative to the longitudinal axis of the rod 116 (as hereinafter described) with the left-hand edges (Fig. 5) being tilted upwardly, downward movement of the washers 124 relative to the rod 116 is prevented thereby to prevent downward motion of the bracket 108 and hence of the forward portion of the chair on its base. Thus, if the washers 124 are moved to their tilted positions while the chair is rocked back, return of the chair to its normal attitude is prevented.

The position of the Washers 124 is controlled by the sleeve 114, one or both of the ends of a longitudinal slot in that sleeve being engageable with tongues 128 on washers 124 so that upward motion of the sleeve 114 relative to the washers 124 will produce tilting of those washers and downward motion will restore, or permit restoration of, the washers 124 to their depicted orientation in Fig. 5. The position of sleeve 114 is in turn controlled by a pair of hangers 130. The lower end of each hanger 130 is turned inwardly to extend through an aperture in the sleeve 114 (Fig. 7) and the upper end is turned outwardly to engage an aperture near the ends of one of the legs of a U-shaped bracket 132 which is mounted upon the cross shaft 54 and lixed against rotation relative thereto by means such as pin 134 (Figs. 2 and 5).

As was before indicated, rotational motion may be imparted to cross shaft 54 through the locking handle 58. This rotation will cause bracket 132 -to turn about the longitudinal axis of shaft 54 to move the hangers 130, and hence the sleeve 114, up or down along the rod 116, thereby to straighten or tilt the washers 124. Hence, if

aai-'asas the lockinghandleSS is in itssforwardmostposition (Figs. 1 and 5), the chairvmayl be rocked-in -the normal fashion, but the chair may be locked against restoration to the shown attitude by `moving the locking handle `58 to its rearmost position (Fig. 5). The sitter may therefore assume a substantially reclined-position, with the chair immobilized to rock, and, at-hisielectiom-with the footrest 48 extended to support hisilegsn Itiwill be noted that handle 58 isbiased to its forwardmost (unlocked) position by means of a tension spring 138' connected to the upper end of one of the hangers 13G and anchored to the support member 102.

While it will be apparent that the embodiment of the invention herein disclosed is well calculated to fulfill the objects above stated, it will be appreciated that the invention is susceptible to modification, variation and change without departing from the proper scope or fair meaning of the subjoined claims.

What is claimed is:

1. In a platform rocking cha-ir, a base portion, a seat portion rockably mounted on said base portion, a footrest, first and second shafts supported on and extending transversely of said seat portion, one of said shafts being rotatable about its longitudinal axis with respect to said seat portion, a linkage mechanism supported on said shafts for movably supporting said footrest relative to said seat portion, and means including one of said shafts for loci;- ing said seat portion against rocking motion with respect to said base portion.

2. In a platform rocking chair, a base portion, a seat portion rockably mounted on said base portion, a footrest, first and second shafts supported on and extending transversely of said seat portion, one of said shafts being rotatable about its longitudinal axis with respect to said seat portion, a linkage mechanism supported on said shafts for movably supporting said footrest relative to said seat portion, and means including one of said shafts for locking said seat portion against rock-ing motion with respect to said base portion, said means comprising a rod pivotally mounted on said base, a sleeve supported by said seat portion and slidably disposed on said rod, and means for selectively preventing translational motion of said sleeve relative to said rod.

3. In a platform rocking chair, a base portion, a seat portion rockably mounted on said base portion, a footrest, first and second shafts supported on and extending transversely of said seat portion, one of said shafts being rotatable about its longitudinal axis with respect to said seat portion, a linkage mechanism supported on said shafts for movably supporting said footrest relative to said seat portion, and means including one of said shafts for locking said seat portion against rocking motion with respect to said base portion, said means comprising a rod pivotal- 1y mounted on said base, a sleeve supported by said seat portion and slidably disposed on said rod, means for moving said sleeve a preselected distance in one direction along said rod, and means effective when said sleeve has been moved said preselected distance in one direction for effectively preventing movement of said sleeve in the other direction along said rod.

4. In a platform rocking chair, a base portion, a seat portion rockably mounted on said base portion, a footrest, first and second shafts supported on and extending transversely of said seat portion, one of said shafts being rotatable abou-t its longitudinal axis with respect to said seat portion, a linkage mechanism supported on said shafts for movably supporting said footrest relative to said seat portion, and means including one of said shafts for locking said seat portion against rocking motion with respect to said base portion, said means comprising a rod pivotally mounted on said base, a sleeve slidably disposed on said rod, support means for pivotally mounting said sleeve on said seat portion, means for moving said sleeve between a rst and a second position relative to said support means, and means effective when said sleeve is in one of said posi-tions `for 'preventing` motionof said'` support means in one direction along said rod.

5. \In a platform-rocking chain-:a :ba-se portion, a seat` portionrockably, mountedonsaid,` basepontion, a foot-` rest, `firstfandsecondi shafts=supported onand extending;` transversely of lsaid` seatportion, one-of said shafts being f, rotatable aboutits` longitudinal` axiswith yrespectto said seatiportioma linkage` mechanism supported on said shafts for movably, supporting` said. `footrestrelativeto said seat portion,.,and ,means including neof-saidshaftsfor locking said seat portion against,rockingmotionwith respect to said base portion, said means comprising a rod pivotally mounted on said base, a sleeve slidably disposed on said rod, support means for pivotally mounting said sleeve on said seat portion, a bracket affixed to said one shaft and rotatable therewith, means interconnecting said bracket and said sleeve for converting rotational motion of said bracket into sliding motion of said sleeve with respect to said support means, and means effective when said sleeve has been moved to a preselected position with respect to said support means for preventing motion of said support means in one direction along said rod.

6. In a platform rocking chair, a base portion, a seat portion rockably mounted on said base portion, a footrest, first and second shafts supported on and extending transversely of said seat portion, one of said shafts being rotatable about its longitudinal axis with respect to said seat portion, a linkage mechanism supported on said shafts for movably supporting said footrest relative to said seat portion, a handle mounted on said rst shaft rotatable to rotate said first shaft to control said linkage mechanism, a handle mounted on the said second shaft rotatable to rotate said second shaft, and means responsive to rotation of said second shaft for preventing rocking of said seat portion on said base portion.

7. In a platform rocking chair, a base portion, a seat portion rockably mounted on said base portion, a footrest, first and second shafts supported on and extending transversely of said seat portion, one of said shafts being rotatable about its longitudinal axis with respect to said seat portion, a linkage mechanism supported on said shafts for movably supporting said footrest relative to said seat portion, a rod pivotally mounted on said base portion, a bracket pivotally mounted on said seat portion and normally movable with respect to said rod, a locking mechanism disposed on and movable between two positions relative to said bracket and effective when in one of said positions to lock said bracket against movement in one direction with respect to said rod, and connecting means interconnecting said locking mechanism and said second shaft for moving said locking mechanism between said two positions as a result of rotation of said .second shaft.

8. In a chair, a seat portion, a footrest, a rotatable shaft supported on and extending transversely of said seat portion, said shaft having a fiat portion, and a linkage mechanism for movably supporting said footrest relative to said seat portion, said mechanism including an arm rigidly connected to said shaft, a lilik pivotally connected to said arm, and a lip on said link selectively engageable with said ilat portion of said shaft.4

9. In a chair, a seat portion, a footrest, a rotatable shaft supported on and extending transversely of said seat portion, said shaft having a flat portion, and a linkage mechanism for movably supporting said footrest relative to said seat portion, said mechanism including an arm rigidly connected to said shaft, a link pivotally connected to said arm, and a lip on said link engageable with said fiat portion of said shaft when said shaft has been rotated to a position to move said link substantially into alignment with said arm.

l0. In a platform rocking chair, a base portion, a seat portion rockably mounted on said base portion, a shaft supported on and extending transversely of said seat portion, and means including said shaft for locking said seat portion against rocking motion with respect to said base portion, said means comprising a rod pivotally mounted on said base, a sleeve slidably disposed on said rod, support means for pivotally mounting said sleeve on said seat portion, a bracket aixed to said shaft and rotatable therewith, means interconnecting said bracket and said sleeve for converting rotational motion of said bracket into sliding motion of said sleeve with respect to said support means, and means effective when said sleeve has been moved to a preselected position with respect to said support means for preventing motion of said support 10 means in one direction along said rod.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Lee July 20, 1897 Shalansky Nov. 8, 1910 Burton Feb. 13, 1951 Hoiman Nov. 9, 1954 FOREIGN PATENTS Italy Nov. 8, 1932 

